The life of a tech junkie is expensive, but you don't always need to spend tons of money to get tons of features. Here are some of our favorite ways to add extra features to your tech without paying an arm and a leg.

While we here at Lifehacker are all about upcycling, the goal of this list is something different. We're not recycling old, unused tech and turning it into something else, we're taking the stuff you already use and making it better. If you've got old tech lying around that you don't know what to do with, check out some of our favorite repurposing hacks here. Otherwise, read on.

Shiny new things tend to take the spotlight, leaving your favorite old tech in a corner collecting…
Read more Read more

10. Turn a $3 Pen into a $200 Pen

Advertisement

Considered by some to be the world's best writing utensils, Mont Blanc pens tend to be on the pricey side (upwards of $200). With a bit of finagling, though, you can actually take a cheap, $3 pen and make it write just as well. All it takes is a cheap Mont Blanc refill cartridge and a bit of scissoring—you should be able to squeeze that amazing ink into your cheap pen to get that experience others pay hundreds of dollars for. (Original Post)

Collaborative DIY site Instructables shows us how to convert a $3 pen into a $200 Mont Blanc pen by …
Read more Read more

9. Turn a $10 Flashlight into a $95 Flashlight

Ever buy a flashlight, only to breathe a sigh of disappointment when you turn it on? While you can't make your $10 flashlight feel like one of those heavy, expensive ones the police carry, you can make it shine like one—all you need is a new bulb. It's a bit more complicated than that, of course; you'll have to do a bit of modding on the case, but once you're done, you'll have a fantastically bright flashlight without paying the cash necessary to buy one.

We've been proponents of standing desks and treadputers for some time, but we've also met …
Read more Read more

6. Turn a Pogoplug into a Full-Featured Linux Web Server

Pogoplugs are fine media storage devices, but if you're finding that you wish it did a bit more, you can actually hack it into a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) web server by installing Linux on it. After that, you can not only store media on the Pogoplug, but also share files with your friends, host a blog, run a multiplayer gaming server, and tons more, all on your little $50 Pogoplug. Again, this mod takes some work, but it's a heck of a lot cheaper than actually buying a dedicated server, so it's an incredible deal if you're willing to get your hands dirty (figuratively, of course).

Pogoplugs are great little storage devices, but they can do more than they let on. Let's take…
Read more Read more

5. Turn Your Wii Into a Full-Featured Media Center

The Wii is the only video game system without a fully-featured media center built-in, and if you don't have a video game-playing, movie-streaming XBMC box, you're probably a little jealous. Luckily, you can hack your Wii and install the Homebrew mod in just a few minutes, and get a bunch of glorious extras like DVD playback, old-school emulators, and tons of others.

We love XBMC media centers for watching movies and TV, but if you like video games, they can do so…
Read more Read more

4. Turn Your Nook Into a Cheap Android Tablet

There's no doubting that some of the new Android tablets are awesome, but they're a bit more expensive than they probably need to be. Instead of buying a new tablet, you can take a less expensive Barnes & Noble Nook Color E-Reader, root it, and run stock Android on it for a much more versatile, very cheap Android tablet. Rooting it takes a bit of work, obviously, but it's certainly worth it to save another $250 or so. (Original Post)

If you're using a consumer grade point-and-shoot Canon digital camera, you've got…
Read more Read more

2. Turn Your iPod Touch Into an iPhone

Whether you aren't on an iPhone-friendly carrier or you just don't feel like paying for the full iPhone, you can still get similar functionality out of the iPod touch with a few tweaks. You'll need a VoIP app, a constant Wi-Fi connection or Verizon Mi-Fi, and an iPod-compatible headset to talk, but once you've got these things together you should be able to make calls over your iPod just like you would an iPhone. And, after all, that's the only real difference between the two, and you got it without being stuck on their carriers or paying the extra $400 for an unlocked phone.

The latest iPhone and iPod touch are nearly identical devices, ignoring the pesky reality that the…
Read more Read more

1. Turn Your $60 Router Into a $600 Router

If your cheap router isn't fulfilling your needs, you can give it a bit of a boost with the open-source DD-WRT firmware. DD-WRT can boost your signal strength, give certain programs bandwidth priority, and add a whole host of other advanced options to your router that you'd generally only find on super expensive models. Essentially, you're getting a $600 router out of the deal with just a simple firmware upgrade at no cost—giving your router a new lease on life and your wallet a repreive from another electronics spending spree. If DD-WRT is a little nerve-racking, you might want to check out the very similar but more user-friendly Tomato. Photo by Rusty Haskell.

Of all the great DIY projects at this year's Maker Faire, the one project that really caught…
Read more Read more

These aren't the most time-friendly hacks, but they'll be much nicer to your wallet than springing for the expensive, high-end tech you've always dreamed for—and in the end, you get a product that's just as good. Got any of your own favorite tech-supercharging projects? Share them with us in the comments.